Despite any financial recession and economic stress, online purchasing continues to grow. Expansion of the market and evolving technology that simplifies our daily lives help to set the pace of e-commerce design. Customers want the shopping process to be quick and easy, and merchants want to increase sales by making their stores attractive and popular. Thus, e-commerce design tends to combine a look and usability that is at once unique and eye-catching. In this post, we showcase 35 attractive online store designs.

One of the trends we observed from this collection is a minimalist design style. Small details and accents (e.g. unobtrusive background patterns, icons, pictograms and typography) reflect a brand’s spirit and match the character of its products. Some websites, though, are unconventional, rich in visual effects. Please note that the selection of stores featured in this showcase was based more on design aesthetics than usability. But we made sure that the websites included here provide at least an easy shopping experience, even for foreign visitors.

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Showcase of Beautiful Online Store Designs

Blik (http://www.whatisblik.com/)
Blik manufactures whimsical removable graphics to spice up the walls of your home. Even though the “About” info gets a bit lost in the large product preview in the center, getting an idea of what Blik is all about doesn’t take longer than a couple of seconds. Aside from the stylish look, the easy shopping experience is what makes this design exquisite: all products are categorized by tags, the thumbnails are big, product descriptions are detailed and supported by decal outlines, and quick tips are placed here and there for maximum assurance. Vintage-looking faded colors and rotating logo add considerably to the elegance.

Fred Perry (http://www.fredperry.com/)
Fred Perry’s e-commerce store has a contemporary and elegant look, conveying key features of the brand very well. The stylish grayscale color scheme, along with sparse text in Helvetica font, make an impact. The design naturally combines Flash and JavaScript. The mini-cart window, the readable layout of the shopping cart and checkout pages, the usable navigation and informative product descriptions all up to a slick and friendly shopping experience.

Nectar (http://www.nectarboutique.com/)
The website for clothing and accessories boutique Nectar was designed by Sunrise Design studio (http://sunrisedesign.com/). The website’s structure allows you to browse goods and make purchases with ease. A muted palette and slipshod watercolor strokes in the background give the layout a positive feel. By the way, if you visit the designers’ portfolio page, you’ll see that painted styles must be their passion.

Seibei (http://www.seibei.com/)
Now, that’s a design you will not forget! The site has a very simple, even minimal navigation combined with a striking “cartoonish” design. Product pages are clean and straightforward. Nice and unique design solution.

Bellyshades (http://www.bellyshades.de/)
The design of German club-wear and accessories store Bellyshades stands out for sure. The vibrant acid colors, insane typography and animals that stand in for shopping carts will leave you anything but cold.

Ten Little Monkeys (http://www.tenlittlemonkeys.co.uk/)
This design has a very strong visual appeal; vibrant colors work well on the dark background, the navigation is colorful yet intuitive (notice how the section for girls and boys are distinguished). Also, the choice of typography is appropriate for the shop’s main objective: selling branded children’s fashion and gifts.

DogCollars.ca (http://www.dogcollars.ca/)
Here’s another beautiful e-commerce website: DogCollars.ca. It’s a simple HTML website with a neat grid-based layout, a warm chocolate color and big high-quality thumbnails. The design is minimalist but not plain, and it delivers a satisfying shopping experience.

’47 (http://www.nineteen47.com/)
Premium sports apparel brand ’47 has an interesting history: “This is a classic story. It’s the American dream come to life…” Thus, the company emphasizes the individuality of its brand in its store design and associates that brand with a community. The website combines jQuery and Flash, which slows the loading speed, but given its objective, this is not critical. Creative visualization and a well-implemented shopping mechanism make for a wonderful e-commerce design.

Storyville Coffee Company (http://www.storyville.com)
Creating an e-commerce Flash platform, let alone a good one, is challenging. In addition to the Converse store profiled above, our showcase includes another fully Flash-based online store: Storyville Coffee Company. This one sports a pleasant coffee theme (appropriately enough), an original table-like product viewing area and an easy shopping process.

Narwhal Co. (http://narwhalcompany.com/)
Accessories made from recycled ties? Yes! Narwhal Co. produces original jazzy merchandise from recycled ties, including wallets, wrist wear, covers and cases. The tie theme in the website’s header and footer, the stylish icons and the inventive product slideshow on the main page give this design a special flavor.

One hundred thousand Laptops will be provided to following categories of youth in Punjab:

All students of 4 years BS Degree Programme who have secured

60% or above marks (in the previous year) in case of annual examination system OR

70% or above marks (in the previous semester) in case of semester system

All post graduate students (Part I & II) of 2 year Masters Degree Programme, who have secured

60% or above marks (in the previous year) in case of annual examination system OR

70% or above marks (in the previous semester) in case of semester system

All students of Engineering Universities and Medical Colleges, who have secured

60% or above marks (in the previous year) in case of annual examination system OR

70% or above marks (in the previous semester) in case of semester system

All currently enrolled students/scholars of MS, LLM, M.Phil and Ph.D

The top 100 students of each Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education of Punjab

In case of 1st year students, the data for the last examination in which the student appeared, shall be considered.

However, the following are NOT eligible for this initiative:

Students of Private Sector Institutions

Evening Students of Public Sector Institutions

MPhil/PhD/LLM/MS scholars who are either already in the Govt. Service or have already availed a similar facility or any benefit from HEC.

Note

If you are an eligible selected candidate and are facing any problem in registration for the laptop awards, please immediately contact respective Principal of the College/Registrar of the University/Secretary of the Board, to provide complete information to the concerned authority.

If you think you are eligible and have not been selected or have any other grievances, kindly contact the respective Principal of the College / Registrar of the University / Secretary of the Board

If you have not provided us your CNIC/B Form no., please immediately provide us the same through Principal of College / Registrar of University / Secretary of the Board, to become eligible for registration

You can also register your grievance with the Independent Grievance Redressal Committees (IGRCs)at Divisional Commissioner's level, which have been constituted by the Chief Minister Punjab, to hear and dispose off appeals submitted by various students regarding e-Youth Laptops Scheme.

The laptops awarded to the eligible candidates do not require any initial deposit or payment. All laptops distributed via this scheme are absolutely free of cost. These laptops are non transferable; however if the candidate thinks he/she already as a laptop and would like to spare it for another deserving candidate, the gesture shall be valued and appreciated by the Chief Minister Punjab in person.

Liquidity Ratios are ratios that come off the Balance Sheet and hence measure the liquidity of the company as on a particular day i.e. the day that the Balance Sheet was prepared. These ratios are important in measuring the ability of a company to meet both its short term and long term obligations.

FIRST LIQUIDITY RATIO

Current Ratio

This ratio is obtained by dividing the 'Total Current Assets' of a company by its 'Total Current Liabilities'. The ratio is regarded as a test of liquidity for a company. It expresses the 'working capital' relationship of current assets available to meet the company's current obligations.

Lumber & Building Supply Company has $1.48 of Current Assets to meet $1.00 of its Current Liability

SECOND LIQUIDITY RATIO

Quick Ratio:

This ratio is obtained by dividing the 'Total Quick Assets' of a company by its 'Total Current Liabilities'. Sometimes a company could be carrying heavy inventory as part of its current assets, which might be obsolete or slow moving. Thus eliminating inventory from current assets and then doing the liquidity test is measured by this ratio. The ratio is regarded as an acid test of liquidity for a company. It expresses the true 'working capital' relationship of its cash, accounts receivables, prepaid and notes receivables available to meet the company's current obligations.

Lumber & Building Supply Company has $0.59 cents of Quick Assets to meet $1.00 of its Current Liability

THIRD LIQUIDITY RATIO

Debt to Equity Ratio

This ratio is obtained by dividing the 'Total Liability or Debt ' of a company by its 'Owners Equity a.k.a Net Worth'. The ratio measures how the company is leveraging its debt against the capital employed by its owners. If the liabilities exceed the net worth then in that case the creditors have more stake than the shareowners.

Lumber & Building Supply Company has $1.40 cents of Debt and only $1.00 in Equity to meet this obligation.

Profitability Ratios:

Profitability Ratios show how successful a company is in terms of generating returns or profits on the Investment that it has made in the business. If a business is liquid and efficient it should also be Profitable.

FIRST PROFITIBILITY RATIO

Return on Sales or Profit Margin (%)

The Profit Margin of a company determines its ability to withstand competition and adverse conditions like rising costs, falling prices or declining sales in the future. The ratio measures the percentage of profits earned per dollar of sales and thus is a measure of efficiency of the company.

Lumber & Building Supply Company makes 0.71 cents on every $1.00 of Sale

SECOND PROFITABILITY RATIO

Return on Assets

The Return on Assets of a company determines its ability to utilize the Assets employed in the company efficiently and effectively to earn a good return. The ratio measures the percentage of profits earned per dollar of Asset and thus is a measure of efficiency of the company in generating profits on its Assets.

Lumber & Building Supply Company generates makes 1.60% return on the Assets that it employs in its operations.

THIRD PROFITABILITY RATIO

Return on Equity or Net Worth

The Return on Equity of a company measures the ability of the management of the company to generate adequate returns for the capital invested by the owners of a company. Generally a return of 10% would be desirable to provide dividends to owners and have funds for future growth of the company

Lumber & Building Supply Company generates a 3.85% percent return on the capital invested by the owners of the company.

Efficiency Ratios:

Efficiency ratios are ratios that come off the Balance Sheet and the Income Statement and therefore incorporate one dynamic statement, the income statement and one static statement, the balance sheet. These ratios are important in measuring the efficiency of a company in either turning their inventory, sales, assets, accounts receivables or payables. It also ties into the ability of a company to meet both its short term and long term obligations. This is because if they do not get paid on time how will you get paid on time. You may have perhaps heard the excuse 'I will pay you when I get paid' or 'my customers have not paid me!'

FIRST EFFICIENCY RATIO

DSO (Days Sales Outstanding)

The Days Sales Outstanding ratio shows both the average time it takes to turn the receivables into cash and the age, in terms of days, of a company's accounts receivable. The ratio is regarded as a test of Efficiency for a company. The effectiveness with which it converts its receivables into cash, This ratio is of particular importance to credit and collection associates.

Best Possible DSO yields insight into delinquencies since it uses only the current portion of receivables. As a measurement, the closer the regular DSO is to the Best Possible DSO, the closer the receivables are to the optimal level.
Best Possible DSO requires three pieces of information for calculation:

1)Current Receivables

2)Total credit sales for the period analyzed

3)The Number of days in the period analyzed

Formula:
Best Possible DSO = Current Receivables/Total Credit Sales X Number of Days

The formula:

Regular DSO = (Total Accounts Receivables/Total Credit Sales) x Number of Days in the period that is being analyzed

Number of days in the period = 1 year = 360 days ( some take this number as 365 days)

DSO = [$97,456 / $727,116 ] x 360 = 48.25 days

The Interpretation:

Lumber & Building Supply Company takes approximately 48 days to convert its accounts receivables into cash. Compare this to their Terms of Net 30 days. This means at an average their customers take 18 days beyond terms to pay.

SECOND EFFICIENCY RATIO

Inventory Turnover ratio: This ratio is obtained by dividing the 'Total Sales' of a company by its 'Total Inventory'. The ratio is regarded as a test of Efficiency and indicates the rapidity with which the company is able to move its merchandise.

Lumber & Building Supply Company is able to rotate its inventory in sales 4.6 times in one fiscal year

THIRD EFFICIENCY RATIO

Accounts Payable to Sales (%)

This ratio is obtained by dividing the 'Accounts Payables' of a company by its 'Annual Net Sales'. This ratio gives you an indication as to how much of their supplier’s money does this company use in order to fund its Sales. Higher the ratio means that the company is using its suppliers as a source of cheap financing. The working capital of such companies could be funded by their suppliers..